It is known to combine a reinforcing layer such as a scrim with one or two paper layers to form a reinforced towel. Reinforced wipes employing a scrim between layers of non-woven materials are also known in the art. One such structure, marketed as an industrial wipe, comprised a pulp-filled, long fiber, carded wipe with a floating scrim center, and specifically comprised a layer of long fibers, a pulp layer, the scrim, a pulp layer, and another layer of long fibers. The wipe contained binder material which extended through the layers of the wipe and anchored the scrim. The scrim was not separately bonded to the pulp. Another nonwoven reinforced fabric wipe comprised a reinforced fluid entangled fibrous wipe consisting of a layer of entangled fibers, a reinforcing scrim, and another layer of entangled fibers, said scrim being attached to the fibrous layers by heat sealing or adhesive. Entangled fiber fabrics are very expensive and difficult to produce.
The reinforced fabric laminate of the present invention comprises a cloth-like nonwoven reinforced laminate which may be made at a relatively low cost, exhibits excellent abrasion resistance, dimensional stability and absorbency. The fibrous layers used in manufacturing the laminate are lightly entangled layers with a low level of binder, sufficient to maintain the outer surface integrity of the layer. Such layers are less expensive to manufacture than the entangled fabric layers of the prior art wipes. According to the method of the present invention, the binder material is printed on one surface only of each of the fibrous layers which make up the fabric laminate, and according to the present invention, the fabric laminate is produced by a process which disposes the binder side of the fibrous layers on the outside surfaces of the fabric laminate.